Wir schlagen Sie – und zeichnen Kriegsanleihe!, 1918

CommentaryThe stalemate on the Western Front, according to the generals, demanded new military means to turn trench warfare back into open warfare. Since 1915 they had been working on such a weapon in England, which became known as the ‘tank’, its first code name. On 15 September, 1916, in the Battle of the Somme, the 4th British Army used its new weapon for the first time. Tanks’ military successes of in the First World War were insignificant, but their psychological impact was initially enormous. German soldiers fled in panic from the advancing monsters. On this poster we see a Mark IV (built from May, 1917), with 1015 units the most produced British tank in the First World War.

The stalemate on the Western Front, according to the generals, demanded new military means to turn trench warfare back into open warfare. Since 1915 they had been working on such a weapon in England, which became known as the ‘tank’, its first code name. On 15 September, 1916, in the Battle of the Somme, the 4th British Army used its new weapon for the first time. Tanks’ military successes of in the First World War were insignificant, but their psychological impact was initially enormous. German soldiers fled in panic from the advancing monsters. On this poster we see a Mark IV (built from May, 1917), with 1015 units the most produced British tank in the First World War.